"I'll Take a Piece of Junk for $35, Alex."

We learned the hard way that it doesn't always pay to do your Christmas shopping early.

Last summer, during a walk through a large technology superstore which shall remain nameless, Eric spied a play-at-home version of one of his favorite game shows—Jeopardy! As he inspected the box I could see the wheels grinding in his brain as he fantasized about night after night of "true daily doubles" and answers in the form of questions. After a few minutes we decided that the price was much too high, and as we walked away I saw a little tear in Eric's eye. (No, not really, but it added a little drama to the tale, didn't it?)


In September, after we won a $20 gift card to said large technology superstore, I stopped in to see whether the game had gone on sale. There was one copy left, and it was marked 50% off. I was thrilled! I bought it, wrapped it, and stashed it away where curious eyes couldn't see it.

Fast forward to December, and Eric is so excited about the present that we open it immediately. His joy turned very quickly to disappointment when we discovered how "cheap" the game actually was. It looked of very low quality, and what's worse is that after 45 minutes of setting it up, it didn't even work!

The date of purchase was September 07, 2007, and the store's return policy is 30 days. We went to the store last night to try to make a plea, and one manager was kind enough to say she'd offer us store credit if the game was still in their system. Alas, it was not. "Try to contact the manufacturer," she said. Sadly, that's retail-speak for "tough luck, kid." Should have buzzed in sooner. Or purchased this version:


The moral of the story? Don't shop too early!

Anybody want to buy a broken—er, gently used—Jeopardy! game?